New from Cambridge University Press!

Edited By Keith Allan and Kasia M. Jaszczolt

This book "fills the unquestionable need for a comprehensive and up-to-date handbook on the fast-developing field of pragmatics" and "includes contributions from many of the principal figures in a wide variety of fields of pragmatic research as well as some up-and-coming pragmatists."

Peter Muhlhausler examines the transformation of the Pacific language region under the impact of colonialization, Westernization and modernization. In contrast to the traditional portrayal of linguistic change as a natural process, Muhlhausler focuses on the cultural and historical forces which drive language change. Using the metaphor of language ecology to explain and describe the complex interplay between languages, speakers and social practices, Muhlhausler looks at how language ecologies have functioned in the past to sustain language diversity and discusses what happens when these ecologies are disrupted.